September 21, 2023

Britain considers electronic chaperone for doctors

In an effort to combat abuses by predatory doctors and false accusations by patients, Britain’s National Health Service may force doctors to have a nurse chaperone in potentially compromising situations. However, the waste of a nurse’s time in a country where nurses are in short supply has prompted the invention of a “virtual chaperone”, The Economist reports. The Synaptiq Virtual Chaperone is discreet but omnipresent. It creates a securely coded video recording of the conversation between doctor and patient which could be used for both clinical and legal purposes. The NHS is studying the system, which promises to save time and money on protracted court battles. However, some observers have ridiculed the idea because the security codes could be cracked and the videos could easily fall into the wrong hands.